What if We Knew Less?

I was talking to a friend today, and she asked a really interesting question:

"What would happen if we just didn't have news?"

Think about that. What if we didn't have people on screens who told us about events far away, or if we didn't have a weather report, if we didn't know anything about the unemployment numbers or the opinion polls?

What if you lost your job, but you didn't know there was a recession? Would you just go out and look for another job and keep looking until you found one? And maybe notice that it took a while, but that's just because it took a while?

What if there were no trends, no memes, no instant celebrities? What if what happened to you didn't happen because of some chart going up or down? What if it just happened and you dealt with it?

What if you didn't compare yourself to people whose lives far away involve private helicopters and yachts?

Would we spend so much time trying to tear people down to make ourselves feel better?

Would we respond differently to adversity if it wasn't linked to some trend or statistic?

Would we change our expectations of ourselves and the people around us?

Would we rely on our own judgment more?

Obviously there will always be rumors, and conversations around the water cooler, and conjecture, and old wives' tales, but haven't we gotten awfully good at taking one thing and blasting it out over so many people that it becomes essentially meaningless?

I'm just asking, I don't know the answer.

I'm asking, "What would happen if....?" which happens to be one of my favorite questions. Here's a little presentation about that very question. It sure opens up some interesting doors when you ask it. Enjoy!